Award of compensation under RTI due to mindless transfer of the application

Background

The appellant had made a representation against the Vice Chancellor of the BHU. He later filed an RTI application to the PMO seeking information about what action was taken on his representation. The Public Information Officer (PIO) of the PMO transferred the application to the Department of Higher Education in Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) who later informed the appellant to approach the BHU to obtain the information. The appellant alleged that his RTI application was dealt with in an extremely casual manner due to which he was forced to go through the entire appellate process and nearly one year after he filed his original RTI application, he has yet to get the exact information he wanted.

View of CIC

The Central Information Commission (CIC) observed that due to improper dealing of the application the appellant has suffered a lot of detriment and loss. Exercising the powers under section 19(8) (b) of the RTI Act, the Commission directed the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of HRD to pay to the appellant a compensation of Rs. 10,000/-. The Commission also issued a show-cause notice to the PIO of MHRD to explain why the information was not given on time and the appellant was wrongly directed to approach the BHU for getting the information.

Citation: Moh. Haider v. Prime Minister’s Office in File No. CIC/SM/A/2011/000699